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Classroom observations are valuable tools for facilitating instructional evaluation and professional development. As research into engineering education continues to grow and expand, classroom observation protocols are becoming increasingly prevalent as research instruments. This work describes the development and application of a classroom observation protocol for use in coding video-recorded class meetings of an innovative active, blended and collaborative (ABC) learning environment known as Freeform. Coding these ABC elements in the context of the instructors’ actions allows researchers to empirically describe what occurs in the Freeform classroom, generating a unique and rich dataset containing information about the duration and sequencing of these ABC instructional elements. These data are then analysed to establish an approximate benchmark for instruction of this kind, as well as to further examine how instruction might evolve over time or differ across instructors. By continuing to explore these data and combining them with performance metrics or other information, these classroom observations will enable researchers to paint a more holistic picture of ABC instruction and its effects within innovative learning environments.Abbreviations: STEM; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. ABC; Active, Blended, and Collaborative. RTOP; Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol. TDOP; Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol. COPUS; Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM. DFW; Earned a failing grade (a D or an F) or Withdrew from the course. IRR; Inter-Rater Reliability.
Evenhouse et al. (2018) studied this question.